On Recommendations, Civil Servants are More Believable

John Briceño

As to the testimony of the worth of a Minister’s recommendation for a visa application, which is not strictly required, it seems to be a case of taking the word of the various public officers who have testified openly to how Ministers of the current administration behaved against the Ministers’ own denial. Former Ministers of Immigration Elvin Penner and Carlos Perdomo, as well as current Ministers Anthony “Boots” Martinez and Edmond Castro, who gave recommendations, insist they were not a guarantee of success. P.U.P. Leader John Briceño told us that he knows who he believes, because actions speak louder than words.

John Briceño, Leader, P.U.P.

“We have had officer after officer after officer from the Immigration Department go to the Committee and give testimony under oath saying that they saw these recommendations as a command from the Ministers and many of them said that they were afraid that if they did not follow these recommendations that they were fearful that they may lose their jobs. Now we have these public officers saying this, and we have these two supposedly rogue Ministers that are saying differently. Who are you going to believe: are you going to believe these two Ministers with the way they have been behaving, or are we going to believe the officers at the Immigration Department? I for one can tell you that I would believe these officers every single day and twice on Sunday, as opposed to listening [to] and believing these two rogue Ministers. You see, it all has to do with the kind of Government that you have. We in the P.U.P., we had a Government that genuinely was out there trying to help any and everybody. So when people used to come and ask for recommendations, we would be giving recommendations; but it does not necessarily mean that it is an order or command. When you look at the behavior of this Government – the way they have behaved, the minute you don’t do what they tell you to do, they are vindictive, they fire you; they take away your job; they take away your scholarship; they take away your land; they just go after you with everything. Look at how these two men behave when they started to attack the two Senators in the Senate Select Committee hearing; this is the kind of behavior, this thuggish behavior that they have been displaying since 2008. So whenever they send a letter to any public officer, they take it as not a recommendation, but a command, and they follow the orders that they are given by their U.D.P. political bosses.”

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